This invention relates to plumbing fixtures and particularly to faucets. Invention has particular, but not exclusive, application to mixer valves such as may be used for shower systems.
A mixer valve may have separate inlets for connection to supplies of hot and cold water and may have an outlet for connection to a showerhead such as a handset or a spray head.
When a mixer valve is fitted in a new installation, the location and spacing of the hot and cold water supply pipes can be adjusted and arranged to be suitably spaced for connection to the hot and cold water inlets of the mixer valve. However, when replacing a mixer valve in an existing installation, problems can arise if the spacing of hot and cold water supply pipes is not the same as the spacing between the hot and cold inlets of the new mixer valve.
In the past this problem has been addressed by supplying the mixer valve with inlets that can be screwed into bosses on the body of the valve wherein the screw threaded engagement between inlets and the bosses allows the spacing between inlets to be adjusted to a small degree.
An alternative solution has been to provide inlets that are telescopic to allow the spacing between the inlets to the adjusted. This approach has improved the aesthetic appearance but the adjustment that can be provided is limited as the sliding portion of the inlets must be able to seal at both ends.
An additional problem that can arise when replacing a mixer valve in an existing installation is that the projection of the water supply pipes from the mounting surface may not be suitable for connection to the inlets of the new mixer valve. It may be that the pipes project to a distance from the mounting surface which is too great or too small to mount the new mixer valve without altering a projection length of the supply pipes. Such changes to the supply pipes may be difficult, especially when connecting the new mixer valve to existing compression fittings.
It is also desirable to provide a mixer valve which can be connected to a multiplicity of inlet supplies.
An object of the invention is to overcome or at least to mitigate the aforementioned problems and disadvantages.